By Josh Staloch
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – The Rotary Club of Green Bay welcomed a special guest to its virtual meeting Monday, Nov. 16, as newly-selected Rotary International (RI) president Jennifer Jones dropped in to talk about the service organization’s current efforts and to shed light on where it will be heading in the future.
Jones, the first female in the 115-year history of Rotary International to be named president, was greeted by 75 participants attending Monday’s virtual get-together from all over the state and even as far away as South America.
Jones said she is fully aware her appointment carries an historical significance.
Though thrilled at the prospect of her tenure inspiring other females to seek influential positions within RI, she said her years of service within the organization make her well qualified.
“I think it’s important to note that I was selected because I was qualified and not because of my gender,” Jones said. “Now, I don’t want to diminish the role that my gender plays and what it means. I hope that it’s a way of bridging the generation and the gender gap in many ways. I hope it’s something that inspires others to look forward and see, perhaps, the younger demographic and the female demographic see themselves reflected authentically in leadership in our organization, they might strive for leadership positions themselves.”
A member of Rotary since 1997, 11 years after a Supreme Court decision paved the way for women to join, Jones brings a wealth of experience to the table from a philanthropy standpoint, as she has played various roles within Rotary, and also from a business standpoint as she and her husband Nick founded and operate a Canadian media company.
When asked about the current focus of RI, Jones said the organization is still completely committed to eradicating polio, and the battle has achieved some milestone successes recently.
“Back in August, we were able to announce the certification of Nigeria as being wild polio virus free,” said Jones. “That means that the entire African continent is free of polio. That is a big piece of news and not something that we should take lightly. It means that the polio infrastructure that we have worked so hard to create has been doing its job.”
The current state of Rotary, Jones said, is robust in spite of setbacks from the pandemic.
New clubs are being chartered regularly and new members are being inducted online, she said.
Jones said she hopes the diverse perspectives emerging in RI will also be able to contribute to solving great challenges facing the world such as the environment, which is quickly becoming an area of focus within the organization.
“It’s important for us to understand that, because we aren’t government, because we’re a non-political organization, that we can help without it being through a political lens,” said Jones. “Things like river cleanups or helping to make sure we’re doing the right things with plastics, because there’s 1.2 million of us, and all of our sphere of influence, we can actually make a big difference.”